Man convicted of attempted arson in Charles City Circuit Court

A Charles City man who poured gasoline down the hallway of the home he was living in has been convicted for attempted arson.

Steven Ray Smith, 37, of the 5800 block of Monguy Road, received convictions on the aforementioned charge as well as a reduced misdemeanor destruction of property charge (originally felony destruction of property) during Sept. 16 proceedings in Charles City Circuit Court. One charge of threatening to burn was dismissed.

Friday morning’s contested trial stemmed from a May 31 incident at the residence on Monguy Road. Captain Jayson Crawley testified that as he arrived on the scene at 6:45 a.m., he noticed a shirtless man in the front yard of the trailer. After identifying Smith as the man, the officer spoke with the defendant inquiring about the situation. According to testimony, Smith and his wife, Angela, had a party the night before and an argument ensued afterwards. Smith told the deputy that he went to the shed and retrieved a can of gasoline, entering into the residence and poured a trail from the back room to the kitchen. The defendant added that second thoughts about dying made him reconsider setting the facility on blaze. A further inspection on the scene revealed that the defendant had broken the windshield, windows, and slashed tired of the vehicle belonging to his wife’s mother.

Angela Smith testified saying she never heard her husband said he was going to burn the trailer down. Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Tyler, obviously caught off guard, said those statements conflicted with what she told authorities. While Tyler’s motion was granted to challenge her as an adverse witness (meaning he received the right to cross-examine her), defense attorney Richard Collins’ motion to strike the charge due to no evidence of the threat being made was sustained.

However, closing arguments from both parties focused on the actions Smith made in the trailer and if it constituted as an attempt to burn the table.

“The action of Mr. Smith was more of a preparation,” argued Collins. “There was no continuation of the crime. As he sat there and prepared, no one stopped him and he decide don his own that he didn’t want to do it and that’s what he told Capt. Crawley.”

“His intent was clear,” Tyler said, citing case law that said after intent is made the act of attempting to do the crime didn’t have to be too far along. “You can see what he wanted to do and just because he chose not to follow through with it doesn’t mean he didn’t attempt to do it.

“The Jerry Sizemore case gives us an example of how Sizemore attempted to kill a Virginia State Trooper but changed his mind,” the Commonwealth’s Attorney continued. “However, he was still charged with attempted murder and was convicted of it because of his intent.”

While Collins rebutted that actions in Sizemore’s case revolved around extraneous circumstances and officers talking him out the situation, his client made the decision on his own.

“Mr. Smith chose on his own accord not to do this and that’s what makes this case different than the Sizemore case,” the defense attorney concluded.

However, Judge B. Elliott Bondurant sided with the prosecution on the attempted arson charge, making light of how the dangerous situation could have escalated even more.

“I understand what you’re saying Mr. Collins, but there is a fine line between preparation and the attempted act,” the judge said. “This man had done up to everything except dropping a match.

“He (Smith) later went on and told Capt. Crawley he intended to burn it down,” Bondurant continued. “This case mirrors the one the Commonwealth presented [in the case law]. There was no question what he was going to do when he went to the shed and got the gasoline and poured it in the trailer.

“The defendant knew what he was doing and that is what this court believes,” concluded the judge.

The charge of felony destruction of property was reduced to a misdemeanor as damages to the vehicle was valued at less than $1,000.

A presentence report is being prepared for Smith with formal sentencing scheduled for Nov. 18.